Gym class is bad for your health
by emmaplodocus
Summary: A 5 times fic. Gym class has never proved to be good for Blaine's health, the privacy of the locker room only encourages the bullies.


glee-angst-meme.)))))livejournal.c))))?thread=)))))15447423#t15447423

Warnings for swearing and violence. This is basically Blaine being crapped on. It's my first ever 5 + 1 fic. I hope you like it.

It was a fill for this post on the angst meme and it ended up waaaaaaay longer than I thought! Let me know what you think :)

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Gym teachers were the worst. Everything's about having fun and team work and Blaine has never had fun in a single gym class ever, and will never be part of a team for as long as he's in this backwards, homophobic school.

His is so bitter about gym class because his teachers know. They know that when he's on the floor in the hallway he's there because he's been tripped and they know without asking - which they don't, where his new bruise has come from. Yet they are more than happy to encourage the bullying because Blaine has to go to gym class - it is apparently vital to a well rounded education and he has to be put in a locker room with twenty guys all of whom hate him.

The only thing Blaine needs gym class for is practice in running away.

Which is hard to do. When you're in a locker room or a gymnasium.

Gym class sucked.

xx 1 xx

Mr Greene was an idiot.

"Get into pairs and grab a ball for the warm-up!"

Blaine sighed rolled his eyes trying not to watch all the other boys grabbing their friends. Mr Greene looked at Blaine in surprise. As if Blaine wasn't left by himself every single lesson without fail, because they always seemed to do pair work even if it was just for warming up like today.

"Oh! It seems we have a spare." Blaine wants to glare at the man for brining it to everyones attention but instead he just stands there, shows him respect and feels himself blushing. "Okay Blaine, you can either warm up with me or if you want to you can join a pair."

"I'd rather work with you." He mumbles.

Several of the boys snigger at him before turning to their friends.

Blaine didn't mind warming up with the teacher. The worst lessons were where a boy was off sick and it led to even numbers so Blaine had to work with a classmate. That's when he ends up getting a ball to the face.

"Okay! Tyler and Jake, and James and Scott all four of you are team captains, we're paying basketball, we'll have two games going on at once and rotate so you can all play each other. Pick your teams!"

Once again, Blaine is last, so he joins the team that picked last and thus automatically gets stuck with him.

He ends up being tripped over twice. Mr Greene kindly tells him they'll work on his co-ordination and Blaine thinks that in his mental rank of most hated, useless teachers, Mr Greene has just been promoted.

xx 2 xx

Blaine is paranoid but not without good reason.

He has been allowed to get out of gym class and get dressed without so much as an insult being thrown his way.

They're planning something. They must be. This never happens. They love the privacy that the locker rooms offer, some of his worst memories come from being cornered in here, he doesn't for one second believe they will let him go ignored. But he tries it anyway, dresses extra fast and tries to charge out unharmed, for once.

No such luck.

There's only really four of them, but the others laugh and even those that don't are silent and therefore helpful to his tormentors.

There they are, three of his bullies waiting for him by the door. His footsteps falters and he halts because he knows they would never step aside and let him pass. Two of them grab him, his gym bag falls to the floor as he struggles, scared. They force him over to the showers and Blaine wants to cry. The other boys are looking on in mild morbid interest, and the ones that aren't are pretending to be blind to everything. Scott Palmer was stood leaning on the wall of the shower smirking. He was only in his gym shorts because you can't turn a shower on without getting wet. Blaine was too disgusted by him to find him attractive

Scott flattens himself against the side of the shower cubicle and reaches an arm out to turn on the water, twists the temperature dial to freezing and al but skips out, one of his friends throws him a towel and he laughs right in Blaine's face.

"Just trying to wash the fag off of you."

He knows what's coming but it doesn't lesson the pure shock that the bitterly cold water causes him when he's shoved under the spray. He gasped and tried to get out but he's shoved back under the spray. All he can hear is the rushing of water and the laughter. His gym bag gets thrown in after him and he really is fucked because he has absolutely no spare clothes now. He gets shoved again and he ends up slipping and falling hard on the floor.

His teeth are chattering, he is absolutely freezing. He just kind of gives up and scoots towards the wall trying to keep the majority of the water away from him by brining his knees up to his chest. He's already soaked and the only positive thing about this is that they can't notice he's crying.

"Guys he's wet enough and the next class will be in here soon, we'll all end up in trouble if we're caught."

Blaine refuses to look up, too mortified but he recognises the voice and he's grateful. Joel had never directly hurt him. He's one of the people that turn an uncomfortable blind eye to his bullying. One of those people that Blaine usually hates, that he calls a coward but can't truly loathe because his fist has not met Blaine's stomach once.

They all clear out quickly so no one can be blamed for anything if someone does catch Blaine.

He is immensely thankful for the help that was Joel's suggestion people should move on. That's as far as the help ever goes anyway. But Blaine's grateful for it because it's more than he normally gets. That is, until upon exiting the locker rooms Joel wordlessly drops a towel that does not belong to the school on the bench right in front of the shower where Blaine is cowering before leaving.

Blaine wants to cry because it's the nicest thing anyone has done for him in weeks.

xx 3 xx

Normally, when you're the fag in a room full of guys it's a good idea to hide in a corner, face the wall and hope the best. Now, it just left him cornered and helpless.

Someone slams into him from behind, his knees hit the bench roughly and he falls forward only just managing to stay on his feet. A harsh grip on his arm spins him round he winces at the three guys stood before him. Scott, James and Owen. This won't end well. Blaine reaches a shaky hand out for his bag and tries to push past them but its every bit as useless as it always is when he tries to get past Owen who is on the end and the smallest of the three and Owen uses all of his boy weight to shove Blaine back.

"Careful Owen, I bet he liked that."

Owen glares at Blaine like that's true and quips, "well you'd better put your shirt on then hadn't you?"

"Got give him something good in his shitty life. He likes to look."

Blaine is pointedly not looking, he never looks because this always happens.

"Blaine it's the last day of school and we're all going to miss you."

Last days of term never ended painlessly, you can't regularly beat the shit out of someone in school everyday because it gets hard to hide. But a week of recovery time means Blaine's going to be here for a while.

It also means that when he gets punched in the face it hurts so much more than whoever just punched him in the stomach. He keels over and gets shoved to the floor.

"Stop!" He hates the begging and it just makes people laugh at him but the kick to his stomach means later he might not even be able to speak at all. His ribs are aching and he lifts his arms up over his face to try and protect himself.

"This is what happens to fags like you. When you're alone over the holidays and in pain just remember why."

It's just them left in the locker room now and Blaine's trying not to pass out. His vision is getting fuzzy and he can taste blood. He curls up and closes his eyes, blinking back the tears and trying to breathe deeply. Another kick to his stomach and one final kick to the ribs and he's finally left alone.

xx 4 xx

The lockers in the locker room were the tall ones. The tall thin ones. They're pretty useless compared to the smaller wider ones that you can actually put things in without balancing things on top of each other.

And then one gym class the guys find a use for them.

Blaine gets there early so he can try and get changed and rush out to the gymnasium before class starts. This time it seems people are lying in wait for him.

He's grabbed the instant he walks inside, he tries to jerk away but they're too strong. He gets pulled away to the far corner of the locker room and slammed into one face first. It gets opened and he's pushed towards it. He knows instantly where this is going. His arms are pulled behind his back and he's slammed into the lockers again and it makes him dizzy. In his disorientation they shove him sideways so he's inside. He's standing upright and stiff and he can't even so much as raise his arms, he's short, luckily so his head avoids touching the top, he feels sick already and claustrophobic, but he fits.

"Listen fag. Here's the deal. If you stay quiet and don't call for help when everyone comes in, you will only be in there for the hour. We'll beat the shit out of you if you shout for help."

"We know it's hard, for you to keep quiet without the usual dick in your mouth but try to manage."

The locker door slams shut and it only makes the laughter ring louder. They bang on the door as hard as they can and it makes him flinch violently.

An hour comes and goes and Blaine's entire body is burning with humiliation because if he hadn't been so terrified of them he could have called for help before they all filed out and someone might have opened the locker long enough in their surprise and curiosity for him to get out.

Everything hurts. He can't sit down or move, he hasn't been able to work his cell phone out of his pocket so he can call the school office, he can't stop crying and there is something so hideously inevitable about getting locked in somewhere that makes him really need the bathroom.

So when he finally hears someone he cries out for help because there was a chance someone might let him out and be complete with his humiliation enough to leave him alone and if it was someone else, what could they do? If they beat him up at least he'd be out of the locker. He was already screwed.

It was the gym teacher.

"Blaine! Who put you in there?"

He helps Blaine out, his legs are stiff and he is grateful for the arm that stops him from buckling to the floor. He stretches as best he can and just sighs. He blinks rapidly trying to get used to the lighting and when he does, he walks out of the locker room and goes home.

He could tell Mr Greene the truth, but he's been there before. Trusted the faculty before and come off worse than ever. They'll just say there was no proof.

No one cared.

xx 5 xx

"Is it clear out there?"

"Yeah. No one around. James is stood at the end of the hall anyway to give us some extra warning."

Blaine stiffened. This wasn't good. Two of his main tormentors were keeping a look out for people coming, that usually meant nothing good where Blaine was concerned.

He tried to double his efforts in getting dressed quickly but he already dressed as fast as he could anyway. In a corner nearest the door, usually serving as a quick mode of getaway unless they blocked it, which happened quite a lot.

Blaine had even started to change in the toilets beforehand but when they caught on they'd wait for him there. And the solitude the bathroom had offered was somehow worse than the openness of the locker rooms where anyone could walk in.

A push in the back makes Blaine move and he's herded out of the door into the hallway.

This is new.

"Get the fuck out of the boys locker room. This is where you belong." The next thing Blaine knows he'd been shoved through the door of the girls changing rooms. He trips and ends up thudding to the floor. He stands, slightly dizzy and he tries to force his way back out but someone's in the way. He stands with his head resting against the door.

He turns round and lets out an embarrassed whine. Twenty-odd girls are just staring at him.

Some of these girls are cruel to him as well, it's a different type of cruelty than the guys show but right now Blaine appreciates that they weren't actually laughing. This wasn't pre-meditated by them. They're in shock. All of them are in various states of undress, some of them look sympathetic. Blaine blushes and turns around trying to be respectful despite the fact that a quarter of them have called him homophobic names before. Any other guy would kill to be in here.

He jumped violently when a hand rested on his shoulder Emily. She was pretty and nice. She was quiet herself so Blaine didn't blame her like he blamed most others for ignoring what he went though, she barely had friends herself.

"Excuse me." She lets herself out the room in front of him but she returns seconds later. Her voice is soft. "There's no one out there anymore."

He leaves. "Thank you."

xx 1 xx

Dalton looked wonderful. But Blaine had spent too many years being bullied and had been called names and beaten up too many times to be anything but pessimistic.

A guy called David had been lumbered with the job of showing Blaine around. He had been nice and patient with Blaine who was stupidly nervous and probably so quiet he was verging on rude. He kept tugging on the sleeves of his new blazer and fiddling with his tie, thinking how it would be too easy for someone to just pull on it and hurt him.

Dalton was spacious and supposedly a haven for people like Blaine but right now Blaine was being guided towards gym class and this had been the worst part of his day at his old school. The teachers were naive and stupid if they truly thought that no bullying could occur amongst teenage boys, and Blaine had learnt the hard way several times that the privacy of a locker room only gave encouragement.

He hadn't told David he was gay. He decided he wasn't going to tell anyone. But he kind of wanted too, because if he came out after a few weeks then they would be angry at him for taking advantage of them as they got changed in the same room as him. Blaine still had some scars from that particular fall out at his old school.

He felt sick.

"I can take you to the nurse."

Blaine jumped.

"No, no thank you."

Blaine thinks he will no doubt need that soon enough anyway. His old schools nurse had been useless, he hopes that the tuition price of Dalton covers him getting looked after he's had the shit kicked out of him.

David leads him through the locker room which was a hell of a lot nicer than his old school's - it was clean for a start so when he's on the floor he might feel slightly less gross. David breezes through the room greeting people, people Blaine is sure that are looking at him curiously, he doesn't know for sure because he's trying to keep his head down. David promises to introduce Blaine later.

He can't wait.

"Hey Mr Perry, this is Blaine. Do you have a new uniform for him?"

"Hi Blaine." The teacher seems kind, but so was Mr Greene who was useless. "Just grab one from my office for him."

Blaine takes his uniform - navy shorts, a white shirt, navy sweats and a sweatshirt that had the Dalton logo on them, mumbles his thanks and goes to a corner, changes quickly and heads out. Class is inside though and now he's regretting his decision to be the only one here in a long sleeve shirt and sweats because he wanted to hide his bruises but he sees all he's stupidly done is single himself out against everyone else in their shorts and shirts. Not even halfway through class he has to remove the sweatshirt and he's so self-conscious of the bruises littering his body he can barely concentrate.

He stands while David and some guy called Wes pass playful banter back and forth because they're picking teams. This is something Blaine is familiar with so he stands and waits to see which team picks first and thus finding out which team he will end up on by default.

"Blaine."

"Blaine!"

Blaine looks up and flushes. Everyone's staring at him. "Me?"

"Yes! Come on!" David is gesturing to him. "Come on, you're on my team!"

Blaine stumbles forward confused. Is this a joke? He stands by David and rubs his arm insecurely.

They're playing soccer. Blaine's always been pretty decent at sports but he's never had the opportunity to show it. He's normally happy with getting through a game without getting tripped. Which never happens.

Until today.

It makes him relieved, confused and suspicious all at once.

The boys were all nice to him. They were loud and energetic and that had never worked out well before but so far nothing had happened.

For the first time ever he had actually enjoyed gym but he didn't want to push his luck by getting his hopes up. Because good things end and he's going to get the shit kicked out of him now.

So he delays it by lingering in the gym waiting for everyone to get changed so he can hopefully escape.

"Blaine I'm sorry the next class will be coming in soon and I need to set up, did you want something?"

"Do you need any help, setting up?"

"Blaine, go and get changed." He sounded kind and understanding.

"I…"

"Blaine sit down." Mr Perry sits down on one of the benches lining the outside of the hall and looks at him kindly. "I've seen your doctors notes remember? I've been informed of what happened at your old school so I know what you're scared of. I promise you, you will like it here at Dalton. Go and get changed."

"How did you know that's what I -"

"I've seen it before," his eyes go to the bruises on Blaine's arms he will probably still have for a week yet. "Blaine it will take you a while to settle in here, I know that but if anything happens to you I promise something will be done about it. Try and trust that, you will be very happy here, there are a lot of opportunities to be taken advantage of."

Blaine's blinking rapidly, feels vulnerable, startled and a sense of hope he is entirely unfamiliar with.

"Thank you."

As soon as he enters the locker room someone shouts his name. He looks round quickly, but can't make out who it was so he heads straight to get changed. David heads towards him and he flinches.

"We wondered where you'd gone!"

He's only wearing his school trousers, no shirt at all and Blaine doesn't know where to look, he knows he can't look at David, but he hasn't said anything horrible yet so Blaine would just be encouraging that by being rude. He doesn't want David to think he's looking at him.

"I was talking to Mr Perry." He hopes that would be enough.

It seems that it is because everyone's chattering to themselves, something about going to the mall afterwards. Blaine's used to this, everyone having friends but him, he's just happy no ones calling him a fag.

"Blaine what about you? Are you coming with us?"

"What? Wh-where?" Blaine stammered. He never got invited anywhere. It had to be a trap. Luring him outside where zero tolerance harassment polices didn't exist. Clever.

"To the mall."

"I don't…"

"Hey, it's okay." David smiles. "Next time? It's only your first day anyway."

"David? Thank you." He rushes out. For the first time ever he is escaping a gym class unharmed and unthreatened and he utterly unnerved by it.

Maybe there was something true to this no bullying policy after all. He was so, so desperate to believe in it, he hopes that there is some truth in it, it's so unfair that everyone else gets to be happy. New school, new start. He is extremely pessimistic and with good reason to be.

But…he just survived a gym class, and he feels hopeful for the first time in months.


End file.
